Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Earth Day is just around the corner. Some people already working on projects for this special day that this year will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. One of them is Susan Newman.

Susan Newman is an a graphic & award-winning website designer and a very and talented one if I may add. We were firstly presented with her work when she designed for us the logo for the green books campaign we had last November. And now she has designed some beautiful posters for Frogs Are Green that we want to share with you.

This is also the opportunity to let you know that Frogs Are Green are sponsoring an Earth Day contest (open to all ages). They ask you to send them one simple practical idea by April 19th that we can all use to help the environment or reconnect with nature, guided by these words:

RENEW

REBUILD

RECONNECT

RETHINK

It doesn’t have to be a grand or complicated idea. For example, maybe someone can think of a way for people to remember to bring reusable grocery bags to the store. The winner, announced on Earth Day, will receive either the poster above or below (printed on FSC certified paper) or a 100% cotton t-shirt or onesie, made and printed in the U.S (their choice). You can find more details on their website.

Better World Books is one of the most exciting, innovative and socially responsible initiatives in the book industry. And now they also get a formal recognition for their outstanding achievements by no other than the EPA!

Yes

terday, The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized Better World Books for its accomplishments in waste reduction and recycling by awarding the company with its 2009 WasteWise Gold Award in a ceremony that was held in Arlington, VA.

To those of you who are not familiar with their work,Better World Books collects and sells new and used books online, donating a portion of each sale to help literacy initiatives worldwide. Books that cannot be re-sold or re-used are recycled. When it comes to waste reduction, the company has successfully diverted more than 32 million books from landfills. In the process, it has also raised $7.6 million in funding for literacy and education initiatives worldwide through the sale of those books.

Photo: Better World Books' warehouse. Credit: Better World Books

On their press release announcing the award

,

Better World Books CEO David Murphy explained that

"Every year, almost a million tons of books are thrown away. We’re proud of our company’s accomplishments reducing that tremendous and unnecessary waste. By moving discarded books out of landfills and back into the reading cycle, we’re not only helping the environment, but also raising money for good causes and promoting literacy. We are honored to be recognized by the EPA and to receive this WasteWise Gold award.”

Kudos to Better World Books for their award! We hope this recognition of their achievements will inspire others to follow suit and find sustainable win-win solutions in the book industry.

ebooks vs. paper books:

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris is a green company working to green up the book industry in the digital age by promoting the adoption of green practices in the book industry, balancing out books by planting trees, and helping to make e-reading greener.

To achieve these goals Eco-Libris is working with book readers, publishers, authors, bookstores and others in the book industry worldwide. So far Eco-Libris balanced out over 179,500 books, which results in more than 200,000 new trees planted with its planting partners in developing countries.